This Week in the Sewing Room

I saw another little Geo Wa centered quilt  and am using some ideas from that for mine. I do like the way it is coming along. If you are new here this is for a historic quilt panel challenge. Read about it HERE.  The only panels I have left are of George Washington and they are approx 5"x8". With a little quilt you don't invest a mountain of time and fabric. Email me at Humbleqults@gmail.com if you are interested in a GW panel. 

I like to add sleeves to my quilts in the same fabric as my backing but I didn't have enough. But, it's done and the quilt is ready to send in this fall to the VA Quilt Museum. 

I may end up making another quilty trip, so if you have any recommendations, please let me know!

I am really enjoying making these free form patriotic  baskets! 

A little fire about a 1/2 mile from our house. I don't think it was caused by fireworks. More than likely somebody throwing a lit cigarette out the window.  Too bad it didn't burn the entire area to the road to keep it from happening again. 

I hope your week is going great!

 

February

Wow! Here it is February already!! I have so many fun events planned for 2016 that it's hard to not rush!

We have hired a new employee and that is a good thing. I hope he learns fast and works well into our small business. 

 Here's a little stuffed pillow I made for a lovely girl who lost her dad after a valiant fight with a heart transplant. It was a free project at Wooden Spools Design- click HERE to see Debbie's blog post and get the pattern.

 I got some ideas from my Facebook group. (which now has 700+ members! I'm humbled for sure!)

 I'm not a fan of poly stuffing. This is what I used. 

 I'm working on lots of binding which makes for a boring blog post. Here is my completed High Desert Baskets, where my creative photo skills flopped!

 That's better. The binding is not the same print. Remember when I made the binding ahead of time? My quilts were at the quilters and I didn't look to see what the outer triangle prints were. Just one more step in my humble quilt philosophy. 

 One more binding. I love this binding with this quilt!! I'll show you the completed quilt later this week.

One more binding attached, still to be hand sewn. 

Have a wonderful week!

High Desert Baskets

 Here is the other quilt that Sharon quilted for me. I'm calling it High Desert Baskets. Wendy, from Legends and Lace shared these challenging basket blocks some time ago. I see she is doing another monthly BOM called red and green. Check it out HERE.

 While trimming it to prep it for the binding I had to take a close look to see if I had appliqued by hand or machine! LOL It was machine, btw.

 This lovely traditional wreath is on the setting squares. I'm usually sewing on the weekend but my kids are here and my son leaves next Monday (the 1st ) for his world travels. I want  to spend as much time as possible with him while he is here. There will be time to sew.....next weekend!

I won a give away from Gayle, The Middle Sister blog. Thank you Gayle! I just love it!!! 

Let's make it a terrific week!

Tuesday, Tuesday!

We are sewing up a storm! For those of you that have asked we are away from the snow storm bearing down on the east coast. Stay safe dear friends if you are affected.

 My baskets and Blooms top is together! I kept it simple and love the setting.

Here are the jewel box blocks I made from Jill's stash. I made as many as I could with the blue I had. See something missing? 

I was ONE block short! Made me cry actually thinking that Jill is no longer with us and I feel one block short without her! I thought it was very appropriate to work on this quilt with good quilting friends.

So, I have a favor......

 Is there any chance someone has a 2 1/2" x 15" strip of the blue that they would send me? 

After reading the terrific and thoughtful comments I have decided to make a rogue block using similar color but different fabric. Thank you to those who have offered the Lancaster fabric.

We have also been able to enjoy some fresh mountain air complete with waterfall!

I've loved reading your blessings comments on the magazine giveaway. Please understand that I am retreating and will only be answering emails intermittently. 

You can follow me on instagram and see more of what is going on here in 

North Carolina Quilt Villa.

If you are in the way of the snow storm- stay safe! We are fine.

Baskets Galore and Cascadia Mystery Winner

The new year brings back fresh enthusiasm for quilts I've set aside. The baskets galore from 

Legend and Lace is one of them.  Wendy opted to set hers with sashing. You can see it HERE. It is beautiful!

 I played around with that strategy an decided not to do it that way. Having shirtings against shirtings it a little unusual and I think that is why I like it. It is unpredictable! I can see it quilted with an all over fan pattern. (maybe!)

 Before I could get them ready I needed to applique these three final blocks.  DONE!

 I have the blocks all packaged up with my diagram to take on my quilt retreat later this month. I may add an additional border, but I've got everything ready to sew up to this point. Yay! That feels good.

I always do a drawing for those who sewalong with my small quilts and totally spaced it out when we had the Linky party. I try and make the prize reflect something or some color of the quiltalong. There were 34 people who linked up their tops. Thank you so much! I couldn't be more thrilled! See them HERE!

I've drawn a name and hopefully the winner will like a bag of my 1 1/2" squares. (with a few short strips thrown in) 

The winner is number 14- Barbara of Quilts, Gravestones, and Elusive Ancestors.  Please send me your mailing address Barbara and I'll get the package in the mail. Congratulations!

PS, Jodybird, you mentioned you'd like to help my adopted family in Guatemala, but you are "No-reply" so I cannot contact you, Please send me an email if you'd still like to help. Thanks!

Applique and Baskets

I've got a mixed bag of blocks finished and they were going into one project, but I didn't think it through very well, so now I'll have extras.

 These are the 5 I finished machine appliqueing on the retreat. 

These 5 blocks are from the Noah and Matilda quilt. Aren't they adorable?! Dawn has done a terrific job of reproducing them. Find them HERE.

For some reason I could't get this one to stay turned when adding to my blog, so you'll have to cock your head. If I would have put a couple of the blocks on the diagonal they would fit in easily. 

These two didn't make the cut and will have to go in another quilt. I love them both! So, I am making one more basket block and 4 more applique blocks for a total of 25.  Wendy at Legend and Lace generously shared the basket patterns and the setting. Thanks Wendy. You can find them HERE.


And while I'm sharing basket quilts. Here are two more from the sale booth.  Stand on your head to see these properly!

Love to you all!

Retreat Projects

I am managing to get a little sewing done.

Here is the last basket block from Wendy at Legends and Lace. 

And here are all 12 of mine.  I also worked on several applique blocks  that will be used in the same quilt as these but I'll have to show them to you next week. 

I finished block 7 of Benjamin Biggs.

Have a lovely weekend! I am having a much needed break with girlfriends. The Outdoor Sister's show is tomorrow and we leave Sunriver early. Our first stop is the antique quilts!

Little of This and That

I have many little projects going on and for now I'm  good with that. In a few weeks i will be getting away for a few days of girl time and sewing and I'm going to concentrate then on one or two projects.  For now this is what I've been working on this week. (It feels like I have shown you these, so forgive me if it is repetitive!)

One more basket block from Wendy at Legend and Lace.

I thought these were complete,  but the green was not appliqued....until now. 

All caught up on the Market Day sew along that Pam Buda is doing. 

Was good to get back in the sewing room. Happy Wednesday!

In My Sewing Room

I've had a little time in my sewing room.

First things first is the sweet basket block from Wendy at Legends and Lace.

I've had a difficult time getting back to the shirt blocks. (feel free to photo browse and not read!) About a month before my dad died a friend's dad died. We've known their family for years. I asked her if she had any shirts from her dad and would she think her mom would like a quilt made from them. (overlook my terrible sentence structure) They had not wasted any time cleaning out the closets, so we went to the local thrift store and she BOUGHT back several shirts that had been her dads. The other place they donated them too handed them all to me when I went in. (the were happy to give them back for the cause but I neglected to check the labels for 100% cotton)
I was starting my project on THIS POST.

The next time I was working on the quilt was 4 days later and was also the day my dad died. I haven't been able to get my heart back into it. Until this week. The widow got a call back from a yearly mammogram. She has had breast cancer before and although I am hoping and praying all is well, I do feel she needs the quilt.  So, the photos are showing little piles of blocks in different stages.

Because I have melted several of the shirts that were not 100% cotton, I've dug into my homespuns and shirtings hoping to sprinkle them throughout to get a lap size quilt.  Yep. A labor of love!!

On another note, I got a photo of this beautiful shirt quilt from Rose Cane. This is what I was attempting but the shirts and my sashing were not working for me. This quilt is in Bonnie Hunter's book.

I am hoping to find time and stay focused. I am working a lot as well and although I am enjoying it, it is cutting into my sewing time!!

Happy Wednesday!

BOM's ready!

These are not my blocks, I only have them downloaded so far.

But I wanted to let you know they are READY! The cute basket comes from
Wendy @ Legends and Lace.

And block 4 of Benjamin Biggs this month comes from Gay @ Sentimentel Stitches.

Thanks Wendy and Gay for your generosity.
I hope to be back to my regular sewing and blogging next week.

Baskets Galore

 Wendy's next basket block is ready to download. It's called Garden basket. Find it HERE. My points will be chopped when sewing it together, but my blog is called Humble Quilts for that very reason. It happens!

I am out of town and have this set to post. Finally made it to my dads for a belated birthday.  I'm sure it will be another difficult departure. 

This is the LAST CALL for the Civil War doll quilt swap. See the post HERE.

Have a fantastic weekend.

Basket BOM

Here is my next basket from Wendy at Legend and Lace. She is calling it Blueberry basket. It is hard to tell from this photo but my main basket is purple and the darker caller is blue. It was one of the easier blocks to assemble. Thanks Wendy!

Seven blocks total.

Happy Wednesday!

Baskets and More

I have my next basket complete.

Wendy, Legends and Lace is offering these monthly. I'm enjoying using the scraps I won from Cyndi.  After Wendy read I thought these were challenging blocks she said she would do a hand piecing tutorial when she releases the next basket. Some of them would be easier to hand piece because of the set-in seams. The other reason I think they are challenging is the 16ths for the sizes. (7/16, etc) If you've done the Jane Stickle quilt you'll have no problems.

Here are my 5 baskets.

Gay of Sentimental Stitches and Beyond the Cherry Tree  fame and Brenda Papadakis from Dear Jane fame are doing an applique BOM starting next month! It is called the Benjamin Biggs quilt and is green, red and indigo on cream background......right up my alley! You can check it out HERE.

Karen, from Karen's Quilts, Crows & Cardinals is doing a wonderful hand applique tutorial. Go HERE to get the info.

Have a wonderful weekend!!